I do have a couple of things I wanted to comment on specifically regarding this story. First is characterization. According to the splash page in the first included story, this issue introduced a new creative team to the book, and while the differences in Wonder Woman's behavior are directly plot-derived (and presumably will not last beyond the needs of the story), the changes in Plastic Man are not.
All right, Plastic Man has always* been portrayed as something of a dog. He has always been easily distracted by a pretty face or form, and he could definitely use a seminar on sexual harassment. He does some truly tacky things when he lets the wrong head lead:
So yeah, not an enlightened kind of guy. But he has generally not been presented as so hostile--he's certainly been portrayed as a sexist, but not, really, as a misogynist. Until now:
My theory is that this was build-up for an upcoming story--the one I'm discussing in the next post--in which he shows some pretty reprehensible behavior--I guess I'll figure out whether this is a good guess when I read the stories that come after that. It would also be arguable that this is an aspect of personality left over from the "old O'Brian"--the thug persona that comes to the fore in "Divided We Fall" when he is split into Plastic Man the hero and O'Brian the small-time crook--but if so I think the characterization fails.
Another thing that struck me with this storyline was Diana's lasso and just how it works. I was always under the impression that Wonder Woman's lasso brings out what people believe to be true, functioning as something of a lie-detector (regardless of why it works, that has been how it works). It appears to force people to tell the truth as they know it--as they believe it. After all, they can't tell what they don't know, and I don't recall ever having seen a scene where someone wrapped in the lasso suddenly has access to information they lacked previously. It can only draw out truth as filtered through the person. I may be mistaken here, but that's what seems to happen. And in that case, why is it that it's so confusing to Wonder Woman that the boy's mother and Rama Khan gemuinely believe two different yet contradictory things to be true? This can't be the first time she has encountered something like that. If the "truth" Diana finds via her lasso is subjective, you'd think she'd be used to it by now. I guess we put it down to unusual circumstances and the influence of her emotional state. Truth is a sticky concept at the best of times, so I'll be forgiving here.
:) But it's something to think about.
* "Always" as in throughout this run of JLA, I haven't seen him elsewhere.
Cool things:
I liked this very visual representation of a telepathic conference among the JLA members, in which apparently each individual's "appearance" is consistent with their inner self (or, possibly, their self-image)--Wonder Woman wearing her heritage as a chiton, wrapped up in her lasso (wrapped in the truth, so to speak), J'Onn of course in his native form, Superman combining his dual identities by wearing his cape over his farm work clothes, Flash in motion, Plastic Man fluid and impermanent, and Green Lantern, consciously heroic, in armor.
Things that made me laugh:
Flash's quick exit when faced with Green Lantern's impending crisis:
Batman multitasking while sparring with Wonder Woman:
Okay, I have tried and tried, and I have been totally unable to think of anything the Flash could have been planning to say next that would have been remotely appropriate for a married man...
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